


Brooding

by Your_Favorite_Fetus



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, I wrote this for my friend, One Shot, hi nerd, katagawa is only mentioned, katagawa is persistent, really this is just rhys brooding on what to do, rhys is Tired, this was supposed to be a lot shorter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:41:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23734003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Your_Favorite_Fetus/pseuds/Your_Favorite_Fetus
Summary: How do you confront a persistent man without starting a war? Rhys Strongfork, the CEO of Atlas, has no idea.
Relationships: Katagawa Jr. & Rhys (Borderlands)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Brooding

Rhys's body felt the weight of stress crush him underfoot. His eyes stared down at the hologram projecting from his arm, showing his previous or missed calls. He had many, and all of them were from one number. With his free hand, he rubbed his face in exasperation. How desperate could one man be?

He hated it. Hated how things had turned so quickly. Their first meeting was friendly and amiable. There was little mention of mergers; the two had focused on an alliance. The Maliwan executive had mentioned a merger, but Rhys had awkwardly - but directly - rejected the idea. He had thought that was the end of that. An alliance would be as far as things would go. An alliance with Maliwan seemed, in fact, like a great idea, and he had even thanked Katagawa upon his exit for the opportunity. Considering Atlas had just risen from the ashes around a decade ago, it was still quite weak in comparison to other manufacturers, and Rhys was thankful for the protection that the executive had promised him and his company.

 _An alliance,_ he repeated in his head, before sighing and allowing the hologram from his metal hand to fade out. He propped his elbows on his desk and buried his face into his hands.

The next meeting, Katagawa had mentioned a merger as well. Rhys had, again, dismissed the idea. The Maliwan executive had tried to reassure him about the idea, and Rhys had been more assertive. The Maliwan executive seemed to back off after that, so Rhys had assumed that he had finally cast the idea of Atlas and Maliwan fusing from his mind.

 _Assumed._ An agitated sigh came from his mouth.

Their next meeting, Katagawa had brought the papers. The first page had appeared harmless to Rhys. Upon further inspection, though, he had found some suspicious writing in them that seemed… _Dangerously_ merger-like. And upon further inspection, the word itself was, in fact, spread generously throughout some of the last pages.

That was when Rhys had ordered Katagawa to leave his office. The Maliwan executive had protested, but, upon the threat of Rhys having him escorted out by soldiers instead, had caved, and Rhys was left with those papers.

He had investigated them many, many times, and there was no doubt that all of the merger talk was towards the back of the papers. As if Katagawa had tried to hide that from him.

After this discovery, Rhys had pulled back from talking to Katagawa, despite their plans for an alliance. And now, Rhys sat at his desk, debating what he should do.

_… Damn it._

He put his arms on his desk and let his head roll forwards, leaning on them and letting his eyes drift shut. The metal of his metallic arm was cold against his human one as they folded over one another. He needed to confront Katagawa, and he was fully aware of that.

Still, though, he didn’t want to. He had pulled back in the hopes that Katagawa would take the hint and back off. Clearly, Rhys had been wrong about that. The missed calls were evident of that.

He grumbled in annoyance into his arms as his mind rushed with ideas on what to do. He was the CEO of the company; he should have known what to do. 

He didn’t. Not at all. Especially because Katagawa was being so persistent.

Hostility was almost certain to end in war, so he had to try to be somewhat amiable. Calling Katagawa and shouting at him to cut it out would certainly shatter the _somewhat_ connection the two companies held. Rhys was surprised he hadn’t completely obliterated the relationship between the two companies when he had threatened to have the Maliwan executive escorted out. 

Clearly, Katagawa was a _very_ persistent man.

Rhys exhaled through his nose and furrowed his brows, irritated. Soon, he’d need to decide what to do. All of his options, though, seemed to end in war or mergers. Ignoring Katagawa’s calls was most likely a big mistake, and Rhys was aware of that. Still, he decided that he would wait until he had somewhat of a plan in mind before regaining contact with him.

With the stress and tension looming over the Atlas CEO like a threatening stormcloud, Rhys went to bed early for once. He couldn’t bear to think for another minute on the topic, already too overwhelmed. Hopefully sleep would clear his mind enough for him to come up with a new, more promising option.

Hopefully sleep wouldn’t promise him the nightmares it typically did. He couldn’t afford another nightmare. He needed a plan, and he needed it soon. His days of avoiding the Maliwan man, he feared, were numbered.


End file.
